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Grand Hyatt Shanghai

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Soon To Be RatedAs our highly trained, incognito inspectors work to assess properties, our editors check them out ahead of time and provide a sneak preview of what to expect.

Grand Hyatt Shanghai is the city’s second-tallest hotel and houses the worlds’ second-highest atrium, but its amenities and location — the city’s busy Lujiazui business district — are first rate.

Occupying floors 53 to 87 of the 88-story Jim Mao Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the world, all guestrooms offer sweeping views of Shanghai, and at each of the hotel’s six dining areas, you can take in the sunset while chowing down on everything from foie gras-topped burgers to sashimi.

Don’t miss the 87th-floor Cloud 9 lounge, where the 360-degree vistas will make you feel like you’re on top of the world.

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Our Inspector's Highlights

• Grand Hyatt Shanghai was Shanghai’s tallest building from 1999 to 2008, when its next-door neighbor Shanghai World Financial Center took that place. Needless to say, the hotel offers staggering views of the Bund, the Pudong skyline and the Huangpu River.

• The staff at Four-Star Grand Hyatt Shanghai understands that you’re busy, and they go out of their way to ensure that everything is done as quickly as possible. Check-in and check-out are completely painless, and the staff is quick to help with whatever you need throughout your stay.

• Grand Hyatt Shanghai has six restaurants, so even picky palates will be pleased. We love the traditional Cantonese food served at Canton, especially the dim sum brunch.

• Grand Hyatt serves every single item on its room service menu 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which means you can order eggs at two in the afternoon and sweet and sour soup for breakfast. This works out very well if you’re flipped around from crossing multiple time zones.

• All the public areas at Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Grand Hyatt Shanghai have wraparound views of the city, so you can snap photos of both sides of the skyline and the Huangpu River.

• While the Grand Hyatt offers three bars, the Cloud 9 is the standout but it’s a maze to get there, since you have hunt for to two different sets of elevators and traipse through a dining area to find the 87th-floor bar. But it’s worth it.

• Shanghai’s weather is finicky, and though Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Grand Hyatt provides umbrellas and can hunt down a poncho for you, it’s best to pack your own outerwear.

• Carry cash, as many of Shanghai’s small shops and restaurants do not accept credit cards. Be sure to bring cash or an ATM card that can be used internationally.

• Shanghai’s weather is at its best in late March, April, May and early June, and again in September, October and early November. That’s when the skies are bluest, there’s a pleasant breeze and the trees are in full bloom but these months, however, are also Grand Hyatt’s high season — rooms are more expensive and the hotel will be crowded, as will all of Shanghai.

The Rooms

• The guestrooms at Grand Hyatt Shanghai, while not enormous, offer everything you need. The standard rooms at this Four-Star hotel offer plush queen-sized beds with pillow-top mattress and four sumptuous pillows.

• A wall of windows provides a sweeping view of the city and plenty of light. Every room has a flat-screen television and, above the bed, a large wood carving with a Chinese poem that was made by a master in a neighboring city.

• There’s a box of cables for connecting your computer to the television and a strip of outlets for all manner of plugs. The color palette is neutral and muted, with mostly beiges and whites.

• Marble sinks have plenty of room for you to spread out your toiletries and are wide enough to accommodate two people at once. The shower offers a rainforest head, and the temperature is easy to adjust.

• Make room in your suitcase for bath products from June Jacobs, including conditioner, shampoo, body wash and moisturizer, all in a green tea and cucumber scent. Bathrooms are also stocked with cotton buds, a shower cap, sewing kit, toothbrush and toothpaste, razor and shaving cream.

Nearby Attractions

• The Bund, on the Puxi side of the Huangpu River, houses Shanghai’s richest collection of historical architecture, including colonial, Art Deco and neo-classical buildings. It’s lovely during the day when the sun is shining and the breeze is blowing the buildings’ red flags, and it’s even more of a sight at night, when each building is lit up.

• There are loads of restaurants in Lujiazui, near the entrance to Grand Hyatt Shanghai, and the concierge can give you some recommendations. Shanghainese food is sweet, while food from northern Dongbei is hearty and Cantonese fare is light.

• Walk around Lujiazui. Now Shanghai’s financial hub, it was mostly farmland more than two decades ago, so as you meander around ogling the skyscrapers, try and imagine how the area looked 20 years ago.

• There’s a ferry docking station a stone’s throw from Four-Star Grand Hyatt Shanghai, and the concierge can give you directions to get down there. Taking the Huangpu River cruise at night will give you a feel for the two different sides of Shanghai — and with all the buildings lit up, you’ll get great night shots.

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